four illustrations of strange white colored symbols in a straight row (and with white text under them) on black background. 

The Cult is a rock band that was formed in 1983 in the United Kingdom. The current members of the band include Ian Asbury lead vocalist, Billy Duffy lead guitarist, Chris Wyse, and John Tempesta. The Cult is thought to a musical style that is somewhat reminiscent of the mysticism of the Doors and more classic hard rock like Led Zepplin. The band, as a result of alcohol abuse and band member tension, broke up in 1995, but reunited in 1999. There were several hiatuses but the band continues to perform and make albums to this day.        

Black text with a white outline on a black background

Nazareth, the Scottish hard rock band, was founded in December 1968 in Dunfermline, Scotland with vocalist Dan McCafferty, guitarists Manny Charlton, bassist Pete Agnew, and drummer Darrell Sweet. The band took its name from the first line of the then popular song “The Weight” by The Band, after Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Some of Nazareth’s most popular songs include “Love Hurts” and “Hair of the Dog.” Both of these songs came from their album called Hair of the Dog, which they released in 1975. Although the personnel of the band has changed throughout the years, Nazareth continued to produce albums and tour to this day. The current members of Nazareth include bassist Pete Agnew, guitarist Jimmy Murrison, drummer Lee Agnew, and lead vocalist Linton Osborne.

A black and whit photograph of John Lennon.

John Lennon is an English singer and songwriter who was not only a member of the world renowned Beatles, but was also a solo artist and political activist. Lennon was born and raised in Liverpool, England where he eventually formed a pop/rock band that would become the Beatles. After the break-up of the Beatles in 1970 Lennon began composing and recording solo albums.

He also made albums with Yoko Ono. John Lennon, even when he was still with the Beatles, was known for his quick wit and interesting and thought provoking lyrics. Some of his most popular solo pieces include “Imagine” and “Give Peace a Chance.” These two songs also tie into John Lennon’s political activism and his antiwar stance. As a result of Lennon and Yoko’s activism Richard Nixon attempted to deport the artist for many years during Vietnam. 

AC DC in white text with a lightening bolt between AC and DC, underneath is text that goes from yellow to orange to red and logo at the bottom, on a black background.

This button is a promotional button for classic rock band, AC/DC's fifth album: Powerage. Although the album did not even reach the top 100 on the Billboard charts when it debuted, the album became one of the band's many platinum albums. While the album continued to receive mixed reviews as time goes on, it still has been revered as a finely crafted rock album. It was named 26 on Kerrang! magazine's list of the "100 greatest heavy metal albums". Perhaps the most well-known song off the album is "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" which did moderately well as a single and is unique from most of the band's hits as it does not feature a guitar solo.

AC/DC is an Australian rock band founded by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young. The band is considered a staple of classic rock, and produced hits such as "Back in Black", "Thunderstruck", "Highway to Hell", and "For Those About to Rock" among others. The band formed in 1973 with original singer Bon Scott. Powerage was one of the last albums to feature vocals from Scott before his death in 1980. These early years are refereed to as the Bon Scott Era, and all years following 1980 are considered the Brain Johnson Era - named for the band's second lead singer. Johnson was friends with Bon Scott and both were heavy influenced by 1950s rocker Little Richard. Elements of Little Richard's performance style can be found in both singers' physical movements and singing style.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

A smiling face and text in black on a pink background.

This button is urging voters to support Robert "Bob" Bily for the Illinois' 8th District seat in the 1976 election. Unfortunately, "Bob" only captured 14% of the vote, losing to his like-minded opponent, Democrat Harry "Bus" Yourell, along with Republicans Jane M. Barnes and Herbert V. Huskey.  
 
Upon his retirement in 1985 after a successful career in business, Joseph Robert "Bob" Bily moved to Arlington, Texas. "Bob" died there at the age of 82 in 2005.

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

A smiley face with black text under it, both on a lime green background. 

This button is urging voters to support Robert "Bob" Bily for the Illinois' 8th District seat in the 1976 election. Unfortunately, "Bob" only captured 14% of the vote, losing to his like-minded opponent, Democrat Harry "Bus" Yourell, along with Republicans Jane M. Barnes and Herbert V. Huskey.  
 
Upon his retirement in 1985 after a successful career in business, Joseph Robert "Bob" Bily moved to Arlington, Texas. "Bob" died there at the age of 82 in 2005.

This button is a variation on the classic yellow smiley face that is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

White text on a blue background. 

“Help Stamp Out Rhinestones” was, according to an article in the December 20, 1967 Albuquerque Tribune, a slogan used by a jeweler in Albuquerque to convince husbands to buy their wives diamonds. The article explains, “’Help Stamp out Rhinestones’ is the slogan on a sky blue button being sported by Dick Rubenstein” the manager of the local jewelry store. (pg. B-2). The article also gives a description of what jewelry trends are during this time period. Overall women wanted to own several nice pieces of jewelry as opposed to many costume pieces. Furthermore, “women are more and more preferring the bracelet watch . . . [or pieces with] colored stones daringly combined with diamonds.” (ibid). Another advertisement using this slogan appeared in the Independent Pasadena on June 2, 1968. 

A colorful and graphic set of eyes and a nose above black, yellow, and blue text on a white background. (this is a sticker stuck to the front of a button)

Have info on this button? Contact us here.

A red, anthropomorphized piece of chocolate below black text on a white background.  

Chocolate chips are small teardrop shapes of sweetened chocolate. They are found in a number of desserts and sweets, but they are most well known for the classic chocolate chip cookie.  It is not exactly clear which chocolate manufacturer invented chocolate chips. Hershey states they have been selling chocolate chips since 1928 and are on record for the Hershey's kiss (a large individual drop of chocolate) becoming commercially available in 1907; however, the popularity of chocolate chips did not take off until 1937 with the creation of the Toll House cookie. Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn of Whitman, Massachusetts, added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe. The cookies were a huge success; in 1939, Nestlé offered Wakefield a lifetime supply of chocolate in exchange for her recipe, which they printed on the packaging of a chocolate bar. In 1941, Nestlé began selling chocolate chips commercially.

A short mythological Viking outlined in purple is wearing a helmet and carrying a shield and torch. The character is standing behind a cannon as it goes off and blasts the red "SOUTH" text with a cannon ball.  The other text is in purple along the top of the button on a white background.

Have info on this button? Contact us here.